Paul Ricoeur

Abstract

French philosopher Paul Ricoeur (b. 1913–d. 2005) addressed a broad range of philosophical issues over his long career, ranging from phenomenology and existentialism to psychoanalysis, structuralism, hermeneutics, the philosophy of action, the fullness of language, selfhood, ethics and the question of justice, historical consciousness, and the philosophy of religion, always in relation to the history of Western philosophy. He also commented regularly on social and political issues of his day. Having taught both in Europe and the United States, his work is an important contribution to the encounter between Continental and analytic philosophy. His was always a philosophy on the way in that, rather than always addressing the same topic, he sought to pick up and develop questions and problems left open by his earlier work, or ones that had not been recognized at the time. He also sought to respond creatively but critically to new developments in thought, such as structuralism, that changed the context of discussion in his day, giving his work a distinctive dialogical character. Widely translated, Ricoeur’s work has been influential across the world for scholars working in a wide variety of disciplines. In the early 21st century, his commentators generally recognize that the idea of a philosophical anthropology, expressed through the notion of the “capable human being” who seeks to live a good life with and for others in just institutions, can be seen as the guiding thread that runs through and unifies his work.

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